We Get Higher
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day six hundred and fifteen: After helping Emmett see Joanie off to her first dance, Shelby spends time with him.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 29th cycle. Now cycle 30!_

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><p><strong>Hear that little bird twitter!<strong> _Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!_

_** **For original character images**, check out 'gleekathon' on twitter! **_

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><p><strong>"We Get Higher"<br>Shelby & Beth, Emmett & Joanie, Emmett/Shelby  
>Shelby &amp; Beth series, sequel to "We can be family" <strong>

As soon as they'd walked through the door of the Tepley house, Joanie had dashed up the stairs to shower, leaving Shelby to carry in their purchases and Beth in the carrier all on her own. "Right, I'll be upstairs in a minute!" Shelby called after her, though she knew she wouldn't hear her. She had expected no less, seeing how much Joanie was actually looking forward to this dance. She wouldn't tell Shelby this, of course, but there was no getting it by her.

Despite the fact that she'd strongly denied any interest weeks ago, Shelby had spotted Joanie returning from school one day and the girl announced that she'd been asked to the dance by her friend Alex. For one who'd spent more time than the average thirteen-year-old girl with adults instead of boys and girls her age, she had changed her tune quite a bit. At first, both Shelby and Joanie's dad, Emmett, had figured she was finally turning into 'one of the girls,' but then, Joanie tipped her hand, when they went to shop for her dress. The task had been handed to Shelby, in part, for the success of their first dress purchase, but also for 'insider knowledge.'

Joanie had wanted a 'musical dance dress,' which was to say she wanted 'one of those dresses that twirls and twirls when the girls dance, like in the movies.' Now Shelby knew, what Joanie really wanted was a musical moment with Alex, a great big romantic moment, the kind she would just stare at, dazzled, when she and Shelby had an afternoon of her movies. Shelby was not one to deny her, and she'd called in a favor from her old tailor, from her Vocal Adrenaline days. Again, the dress was made in a color that would accentuate her eyes. Though she wouldn't say it, she really feared and hoped at the same time about how this evening would shape up. From what she'd seen of him, Alex seemed like a good kid, but whether he could dance the way Joanie could – Shelby had been amazed at the way she could learn the movie routines – was left to be seen. She just didn't want her to be disappointed.

"So when do I get to see this dress?" Emmett arrived to help her unload all that she held.

"Not until it's on her and her hair and everything is done, as she's requested," Shelby dictated.

"Right, of course," Emmett shrugged, and Shelby smirked. Before long, Joanie appeared at the top of the stairs to call for Shelby. Emmett kept an eye on Beth while the girls were busy upstairs. He'd played a long and heated game of 'peek-a-boo' with the little one, until finally he heard steps coming. He turned to look, and he was… speechless. He got up, and Shelby took Beth so he could approach his own daughter. She looked like… a lady, in every sense of the word that was good. "Joanie, I… you look beautiful," he smiled with pride, moving to hug her, where he whispered in her ear, "Like always." Seeing her, smiling as she was, he couldn't have asked for more… but he would.

"Alex should be here soon, I'll get out of your hair," Shelby moved to put Beth back in her carrier, while Joanie tapped frenetically at her father's arm, quietly urging him on.

"I, uh, Shelby, wait," he spoke up, and she turned. "You've been… a part of all this, and… well… If you'd like to see it through to the end, I mean… I can make dinner, and…"

"He wants you to stay," Joanie cut in, like he'd never say it. Shelby bit back a chuckle, while Emmett looked to Joanie.

"Sure, that'd be great," Shelby responded, and she could practically hear Joanie squealing before she did. Right at that moment, the doorbell rang, and they were off. Alex was at the door, Emmett let him in and promptly went into dad mode, even though he didn't need to. The boy was very good to Joanie; they could see it in his eyes, the moment he saw her. Emmett took a picture of the two, and they left, driven by Alex's mother.

"Was that good? Is she going to be embarrassed to be seen with me now?" Emmett looked back to Shelby once they were alone.

"Trust me, that is never going to happen," Shelby could barely hide her amusement.

"Yeah, okay, let's see about dinner," he shook his head at her.

Emmett would cook dinner, insisting Shelby wouldn't lift a finger, that she'd done her part by helping Joanie and now it was his turn. This seemed fair, so she played with Beth as they waited. Once dinner was served, they sat to eat, and the conversation naturally returned to this evening, to Joanie and moments going by in their daughters' lives. She wouldn't remember what it was exactly that had led to it, but as dinner had ended and they'd moved to the living room with Beth, Shelby found herself bringing up something she hadn't spoken of, to anyone, in a long while, and even then not to many people. He would remember that they had been talking about the girls growing, becoming their own person, away from them…

"I have a daughter…" she started, out of nowhere. "I mean, another one, one I gave birth to," she adjusted, looking back into her Beth's eyes, sitting in her lap. She looked to Emmett for a moment, found him looking at her, surprised. "She was never really mine though, I… I was a surrogate, for her dads, but… she still grew with me, part of me, and…" her voices drifted away for a moment. "I tried getting back in touch with her, because I thought we could make it work, but…" she lightly shook her head, trying not to actually lose it in front of him.

"How old is she now?" were Emmett's first words after this, and it made Shelby smile.

"Sixteen. Her name's Rachel."

"Does she sing like you?" he asked, and again she smiled.

"Like you wouldn't believe…" She paused again, letting Beth grasp at her finger. "For one… brief moment, I thought we could make it work… and for even less time I thought it had been a mistake, reaching out to her, but then… If I hadn't done it, then I wouldn't have gotten her," she kissed Beth's little fingers. "It was through her that I got to meet the birth parents, and that I got to have this one here," she smiled.

"You still think about her though," Emmett nudged out the thought she hadn't spoken.

"More than you know," Shelby admitted. After a moment, she let out a breath, as though to say 'change of subject?' He obliged, reaching for the remote.

"Let's see what we've got here," he flipped through the channels. Eventually they found a movie that would take them through to the time when Joanie was set to return from the dance. It wasn't until the credits rolled that she found the nerve to tell him what she hadn't told him before.

"Thank you," she bowed her head, putting her hand to his arm. He looked to her, looking to say 'don't mention it,' but then before the words could be formed, they were kissing. It lasted all of five seconds before the doorbell rang and they both sprang back. They looked to each other, unsure what to say, but then the bell rang again, and Beth, who had been placed in the carrier once she fell asleep, woke up with a cry. So they both got up and did as they had to. Shelby picked up Beth, trying to calm her again, while Emmett went to the door to greet his daughter and thank Mrs. Singh, Alex's mother.

Shelby rejoined them, already hearing Joanie tell her father how the dance had gone. It turned out Alex had faired pretty well as far as the dancing went. She told him how she actually got to get her skirt to go like in the movies, and it was perfect. Later she would confide in Shelby that, before his mother had picked them up again, he had kissed her. Shelby could have guessed it, only by the fact that her cheeks were still flushed when they got home. She was almost surprised that Joanie didn't see the flush on her cheeks as well, seeing how she had been the recipient of a first kiss as well… and neither of them was any closer to knowing what it was supposed to mean for them.

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>******always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!******


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